Prior to becoming Australia’s premier cyber coordinator in February, Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness spent three years as the only non-American deputy inside the US Defense Intelligence Agency.
McGuinness told the opening-day audience at the Australian Cyber Conference in Canberra that as deputy director for commonwealth integration, she revelled in the complex challenges of interagency strategic intelligence.
It involved “tackling some of the nation’s most wicked intelligence problems with some of the smartest people I know”, she said.
“Those experiences and many more leave me under no illusion as to the challenge posed by the fast-changing world of cyber threats.
“The nature and diversity of these threats and actors mean they operate and evolve with ease. As quickly as we remove and deal with those threats, more pop up to fill the void.”
Having started as national cyber security coordinator in late February, McGuinness said her job is to position Australia as a “more cyber-resilient nation, to ensure we’re not just playing catch-up in response to the constantly evolving threat, but are actually getting ahead, preventing and, of course, preparing and responding to cybersecurity incidents”.
McGuinness, who has spent three decades in the ADF, describes this as a “whole-of-nation endeavour”.
“To be clear, the government can do a certain amount of the heavy lifting. We can ensure the regulatory framework is right. We can develop and implement strong cybersecurity policies. We can help increase awareness and education, strengthen public-private partnerships, and promote a culture of strong cybersecurity habits.
“But to be fully effective, we need everyone to do their part on cybersecurity and develop their own levels of self-sufficiency and protection.
“We’re going to share real-time two-way information between government and industry partners on threats and what we’re doing to block them with the aim of getting everyone on the same page at the same time. And we will build infrastructure that our partners can access for the latest intelligence and cybersecurity best practice.”
McGuinness said the 2023-2030 cybersecurity strategy released late last year is “our roadmap to a more cyber secure nation”, with protecting critical infrastructure a priority.
She acknowledges this task will be more difficult because of workforce shortages. “We need to attract quality professionals and improve the capability and diversity of this workforce,” she said. “Importantly, we will create clear pathways for Australians into the cyber industry through professionalising the workforce and breaking down any barriers to entry.
“It is my role to bring together the expertise and resources available across government and industry. I will consult with our best and brightest whoever they are, wherever they may be.”
McGuinness believes Australia already has some of the world’s best cyber practitioners across industry and government. “Particularly when I look at world-leading partners like the Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Cyber Security Centre.
“As I mentioned, my role is to bring us all together. The trick is in the title, I’m the coordinator.”
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